In Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports the cumulative number of displaced people rose 30 per cent just over the past 24 hours to over 338,000; two thirds are taking shelter in schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
Noon Briefings
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) reported that 220,000 internally displaced people are sheltering in 88 UNRWA schools across the Gaza Strip, also noting that numerous personnel, teachers and students have been killed. Agency staff are working around the clock, caring for the people in the shelters.
In Afghanistan, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that aftershocks continue three days after the earthquake which struck Herat Province and affected over 12,000 people. The UN and its partners are on the ground providing emergency food, shelter, health care and household aid.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has begun rolling out food distributions to nearly 900,000 refugees in Ethiopia following a full revamp of the safeguards and controls at its refugee operations, with refugee camps across five regions receiving food parcels for the first time since WFP paused food distributions in June.
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Denise Brown, visited Hroza today, less than 24 hours after an attack that killed dozens of civilians — calling it a barbaric consequence of the war that 20 per cent of a community can be wiped out in mere seconds. The UN is mobilizing humanitarian aid to civilians in the area.
In Armenia, the UN, led by acting Resident Coordinator Natia Natsvlishvili, is boosting support to national authorities to address the needs of over 100,000 refugees, who recently arrived. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) continues to distribute locally procured core relief items requested by local municipalities.
The UN Conference on Trade and Development’s newly released Trade and Development Report 2023 warns of a stalling global economy this year, with growth slowing in most regions and only a few countries bucking the trend. The agency calls for a change in policy direction and institutional reforms to avert a lost decade.
The UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has launched a joint operation in Djugu Territory, in Ituri Province, with the Congolese Armed Forces against the armed group CODECO in response to recent attacks against civilians and the presence of CODECO members in the area.
Abdoulaye Bathily, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya and Head of the UN mission there, expressed concern today over the emergence of unilateral and competing initiatives on the reconstruction of Derna and other flood-affected areas. He urges leaders to agree on a unified response.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said today that more than 11,600 children crossed the Central Mediterranean Sea to Italy without a parent or legal guardian. That’s between January and mid-September 2023. This is an increase of 60 per cent compared to the same period last year.